Social Innovation News

Celebrating its sixth year, the 2021 SIC awards ceremony on April 29 rewarded multiple projects on the rise, expanded its reach, and shared updates on SIC winners dating back to its 2011 debut.

The University of San Diego leads the Cali-Baja region in catalyzing student entrepreneurship with its inaugural Innovation Week, April 25 to 29.

On April 22, April 28 and April 29, USD students who've made it to the finalist stage in the Changemaker Challenge, the Venture Vetting (V2) Pitch Competition and the Social Innovation Challenge, respectively, will be rewarded with financial and/or in-kind support for their ideas, passion and determination to make a difference.

San Diego County undergraduate and graduate college students have until Feb. 15 to enter the competition offering more than $50,000 in seed funding and support to launch ventures solving social, economic, and environmental issues.

Open to all university students in San Diego generate ideas for innovative ventures that respond to a social, economic, environmental, or justice issue of their choice, and compete for seed funding to launch or expand their ventures.

That’s the straightforward explanation and it’s a worthy description for an impressive event. But during a Nov. 19 Idea Lab Series event and hearing nine 2021 SIC finalists who received funding six months ago give progress reports, it’s easy to see that investing time and effort into this social entrepreneurship meets innovation endeavor results in something much deeper.

Lessons are learned, passion intensifies, and the potential impact that students can create with their idea to make positive change in the world is transformative.

Entrepreneurship is a mindset. It’s about the big idea. It’s about the networking, the investment funding, the late nights of frustration and concentration. It’s about building a strategy for everything. It’s about tinkering and more tinkering with that strategy. And this all happens before your idea is launched, which is another series of challenges.

Do you believe one pair of pants can change the world? Recent University of San Diego School of Business Administration alumna Brittany Becker BA ’15 does.

University of San Diego School of Business Administration student Alix Naugler ’17 puts her heart and soul into academics and service.

From Off-Grid Water to Customized Latrines for the Disabled. USD, UCSD, San Diego State Students Awarded $75,000 in Live Social Innovation Challenge